Every Other Day
by OnAir
Summary: After ten years of seperation, Kogoro Mouri finally realizes that it might be too late. This story concentrates on the relationship between Kogoro and Eri. The one that was, and the one that still might be...
1. Chapter 1

"**_Every other Day_**" by _OnAir_ (aka. _Eloe)_

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Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The characters belong to Aoyama Gôsho. I just play with them. No money is made here.

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_I have lost your photography  
I know  
I have nothing left now_

_(by Myslovitz)_

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**Prologue**

He closed the door loudly behind him, the morning paper in his hand. It was early in the morning, but Ran and Conan were already out of the house, leaving Kogoro alone in the agency. There was no difference between this day, and every other for the last few months, except for the date, and no difference between this day and all the other days for the last 10 years. Every day he woke up, to find the other bedside empty, and every day he thought, that maybe today would be the day, the day that he finally would have the courage to give in, to ignore his pride, and tell her that he was sorry and that he wanted her back. But that courage never came.

He sat down at his desk with a coffee-mug, spreading the newspaper out in front of him. The clock on the wall was ticking, its second hand moving fast from one number to the next. With a sigh Kogoro turned the page, looking for something to draw his attention, something he could complain about to himself, or something funny that would make him laugh for the rest of the day, but there was nothing.

He turned the next page, flying over the text with his eyes. And suddenly there it was, one of those articles that made him smile. One of those he usually kept in his drawer to read them again and again when Ran and Conan were asleep.

The Queen of the Court had yet again won a difficult case, adding another goal to her statistics, proving her top-rank position on the list of those, who never loose. She was smiling, her confident expression never fading, and starring back at him from behind her glasses.

It was at then, that Kogoro Mouri realized, that today of all days, would be different.

Silently he ripped the page out of the paper, folded it and put it into his drawer. It was still there. That confident expression from the black and white photography. Just like that smile on the face of the man, who was standing next to her.

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**Chapter I: How I imagined it to be**

The TV was turned on, and Yoko Okino tapes were lying all over the floor. No matter how hard he tried to justify his actions by telling himself, that he was only looking for one special tape, it became more and more apparent, that in fact, the room was just one big mess, like everything else in his life was. Well, maybe not everything. There was Ran, whom he was very proud of for one, and he had been rather successful in his job lately, but apart from that, there seemed to be nothing. His life seemed to consist of his work, casual visits at the play hall for some mahjong, some drinking with old colleagues and last but not least, TV, or to be more precise Yoko Okino.

He hated to admit it, but it was not exactly how he had planed his life to turn out. Not in the least.

When he had been a young man, his future seemed very clear. He would propose to Eri and marry her. He would join the police force and get to work for the murder squad one day. And finally he would become a father of a son or a daughter, he didn´t care much about the gender, whom he would teach Judo and be proud of.

But it had all fallen to pieces on the day he shoot Eri. It hadn´t been an accident, but the only way of getting her out of a kidnappers force. Both of them had known it, but Kogoro never told the reason when he was questioned by his supervisor. After the inquiry he decided to leave the police and Eri decided to leave him. It was not because of the shooting, but because of a misunderstanding involving cooking and his fear that she was not getting enough rest.

He never thought that she would really leave. But she did.

It was his pride that forbade him to go after her, to tell her, that he was a twat, that he was sorry, that he loved her and that he wanted nothing more, than her to come back home. Every day, he was waiting for her to give in and come back. But she never did.

And suddenly one day, Kogoro stopped to wait, because he realized, that she wouldn´t give in. Not until he did.

The vision of his future, that he had after graduation slowly faded. He had lost his wife and given away his job. The only thing that was left, was his daughter, Ran. Because even if it was Karate, and not Judo, upon wich he had decided, he was still proud of her. After all, she was the most important thing in his life.

Kogoro began to put the tapes away. He wasn´t in the mood for watching Yoko Okino right now.

"Dad? I´m ho... me!"

It was Ran´s voice that made him turn around. She was standing behind him with an angry expression, looking down at the tapes, that were still lying on the floor.

"I was out of the house for only half a day, and you already managed to turn the whole room into a mess!" She sighted heavily. "No wonder mum has left you!"

Kogoro mumbeld something angrily, picked the tapes up slowly and put them away. Ran shook her head. She was going away over the weekend for a karate contest, and with Conan at prof. Agasa´s her father was going to be all alone at home. Or more precise the home was going to be all alone with her father.

"Did you pick up your Suite from the cleaner´s?" she asked looking at him questioning.

"Pick up my suite?" Kogoro repeated puzzled.

"Yes. For the party at the Beika Hotel this evening. You know the police ball you get an invitation to every year because you help them so often."

"It´s today?"

"Yes. It is today," Ran answered impatiently, but her father just shrugged.

"And you will attend that party! It´s for the good..." but Kogoro interrupted her.

"For the good of the agency, I know," he said grumpily.

It was not that he didn´t like going to all those parties. On the contrary, he loved them. He could drink for free, flirt with pretty women and he was treated like a celebrity. But the police ball was different. Every year his past and present life seemed to collide on that very evening, and when he got home he was so depressed, that he didn´t care the least for the hangover he was going to have in the morning.

"I´ll go and get that stupid suite," he sighed.

Ran nodded. "But hurry up. Dinner will be ready soon."

Kogoro didn´t answer. Dinner seemed to be the only thing he could look forward to.

Tbc...

A/N: As most of you have probably noticed, English is not my maternal language. I tried my best, so this story would not contain too many errors, but I know that they still are there.

That is why I´m desperately looking for a beta. Please, if you are capable of that job and interested, tell me! I´ll appreciate any help I can get. bows

Still, I hope you liked it. Reviews are (of course) welcome .


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Alas, after nearly two years (oh my God, two years?!?) I finally managed to write a second chapter of this story. Enjoy!

**Chapter II: And then there was rain **

Kogoro walked slowly down the stairs. Outside the sky had turned into a heavy grey, clouds moving fast over his head, foreshadowing a thunderstorm, but Kogoro did not care. He passed his car, not even looking up. He did not feel like driving right now.

At the cleaner's the elderly lady behind the counter handed him the bill and his suite in a plastic dustcover, chirping in a high pitched, happy voice as she did so. Kogoro just mumbled something sounding like thank you, carefully avoiding not begin a conversation, and left, silently closing the door behind him.

The clouds were already shifting, pushed forward by a heavy wind. After a few minutes rain started to fall. Sudden, huge raindrops hammered violently on the street, making the black asphalt shimmer. Water was dripping from Kogoro's body, but he did not quicken his steps.

When he pushed open the front door, a small water puddle formed around him, wet and muddy. He took off his shoes, leaving them outside the flat.

"Good you're finally here," came Ran's voice from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready. And what took you so horribly long? You knew..." she stopped in mid-sentence, looking at her father in shock. He was standing in the kitchen- door, his hair plastered to his forehead, his wet clothes stuck to his body like paper.

"I'm putting this in the bathroom.," Kogoro said pointing at the bag in his hands, ignoring his daughter's expression. "The dustcover is too wet to take the suite out yet."

"Dad, why on earth did you not use an umbrella! You're going to catch a cold!"

"You know I never use an umbrella," he answered turning around, not listening to Ran's further comments.

With a sigh he hung the suit up over the bathtub and looked into the mirror. He was looking dreadful, but it did not matter much. It never did. It was true, he never used an umbrella. Not since he was seven.

Kogoro leaned against the wall and a small smile crept across his face, only do disappear the second it appeared. He remembered that day well. It was in elementary school. The weather forecast said it would rain in the afternoon, and all pupils had brought an umbrella with them to school. When the last lesson had ended, the ground outside was still dry, not one raindrop had fallen.

He noticed that he forgot his umbrella in the classroom the second he left the school grounds. The sky was already grey, thunder rolled somewhere far away, heavy like a dropped bomb. He wanted to turn around, go back for the umbrella, when he saw _her_ .

She was looking at him, and arrogant smile an her face and a new red umbrella in her hand. "Did you forget your umbrella? You're so stupid," she said, her stare and her voice making him cringe inside, but he did not show it. He couldn't. Not in front of_ her_ .

"I didn't forget it, you stupid cow. I left it at school because I don't need it. I'm a big boy and I'm not afraid of rain. I'm not made of sugar like _ you_ .

"You're an idiot! And don't call me a cow you sissy!" she spat out, angry about his comment.

"You are the sissy! When it starts to rain, you will be hiding under you umbrella, afraid of water, but I'm going to walk home, as if nothing had happened."

"We'll see that," she laughed and walked on.

And then he decided, that he would not go back, that he would not hide from the rain like she did. No, he really would walk proudly through the rain, not behaving like a child. He would show her.

And suddenly, rain began to fall. Heavy drops hammering against the treetops like lead balls. The girl a few steps ahead of him opened her red umbrella and looked back. But he just smirked and walked on, slowly, as if there was no rain at all. She looked back many times as they walked home, not saying a word, always acting as if there was something other than him, that made her turn around, but Kogoro knew it was not the truth. He knew she could not believe that he did not start running to get home as fast as possible.

At the street-crossing near the old shrine she turned left and he turned right. This was the point where their ways split, but even after she was out of sight, the small boy did not quicken his step, slowly walking down the street.

When his mother saw him, she just shook her head in horror, his father did not say anything either. Kogoro was instantly put into a hot bath and fed traditional Chinese medicine that tasted of mud and leaves, but it seemed to help.

The next day he would sit in school with a small grin appearing on his face, every time he accidentally met her gaze and he would never use an umbrella again.

Well, almost.

Kogoro looked into the bathroom mirror again, before taking out a towel from one of the cupboards and drying his hair.

He also remembered that one day, when they were already at university. Rain was falling down in small, mist like drops. He had been walking home from judo training when suddenly someone held an umbrella over his head. When he had looked up, he saw her face. Her cheeks were red from the wind and a few raindrops were glistening on her glasses.

"You'll catch a cold," she said in that soft voice she scarcely used. Nothing more.

They had walked home together that day, arm in arm as to use as much of the umbrella's protection as possible.

Kogoro sighed. It was all so long ago. Maybe even too long. But on the other side, he couldn't blame her, or could he?

"Eri..." he whispered into the silence, looking at his reflection again.

She would be there, at that party. She always was. It would all come tumbling down again. But this year, thought Kogoro, it would most probably also fall to pieces, never to be whole again.

He pushed open the door and went to his room to change. Ran made a few more comments about how childish he behaved, but he decided not to listen. He had only a few hours left. Only a few hours to get used to the idea of things changing and never being the same again.


End file.
